Panthers fall to Monroe City in title game
by Mark Cheffey
The PHS varsity boys struggled against their arch nemesis Saturday, falling to the host squad, 58-36, in the Monroe City Tournament title game Saturday.
Monroe City scored the first nine points and really never looked back in building a 34-17 halftime lead and then outscoring Palmyra (3-1) 14-4 in the third quarter.
Palmyra’s Zane Meyers draws a crowd in the lane against Monroe City Saturday.
Junior Josh Talton paced Monroe City with 20 points, while Jaedyn Robertson added 14, and Loganb Buhlig, 11.
Zane Meyers led the Panthers with 13 points, while sinking three treys, and was followed by Aaron Stamper, 10, Abe Haerr, seven, Bear Bock, four, and Quade Plunkett, four.
Palmyra now has an 11-game losing streak against Monroe City dating back to Dec. 9, 2017, when Palmyra beat Monroe for the tournament championship.
Palmyra advanced to the title game by trouncing third-seeded Van-Far by 50 points, 77-27,
Palmyra’s Abe Haerr splits Monroe City defenders while going to the basket.
The tone was set from the outset as Palmyra jumped out to a 19-6 lead and went into halftime up by 21.
The Panthers then came out of the break and out-scored 27-9 in the third quarter and cruised from there.
Haerr scored all of his game-high 18 points before the fourth quarter and was joined in double figures by Brayden Shannon, who sank five three-pointers in collecting 17 points, and Bear Bock with 14.
All 10 of the players who dressed out contributed offensively including Meyers, eight, Alex Loman, five, Plunkett, four, Bennett Stice, four, Adam Goodwin, four, Laydin Lochman, two, and Jon Lundberg,two.
Palmyra’s Bear Bock drives down the sideline during Monroe City championship game action Saturday.
The Panthers opened the tournament with an easy 61-24 victory over seventh-seeded Mark Twain, Tuesday.
Palmyra jumped out to a 14-5 lead, went into halftime up by 22 and rode a 31-point advantage into the final quarter.
Haerr sank nine field goals, one more than the entire Tiger out-put for the night, and finished with a game-high 20 points.
Also scoring were Bock, 14, Meyers, seven, Goodwin, seven, Lochman, four, Loman, four, Stice, three, and Plunkett, two.
This week, the Panthers are to travel to Mark Twain, Thursday, for a rescheduled game, which was originally supposed to be the season opener Dec. 1.
